Parties play it safe with easy listening

09:38, 29 July 2011

ByBirmingham Mail

ALMOST every public event these days has to be accompanied by a PA system blaring out assorted chart toppers as if expecting people to assemble in a silent room or make their own conversation just simply would not do.

ALMOST every public event these days has to be accompanied by a PA system blaring out assorted chart toppers as if expecting people to assemble in a silent room or make their own conversation just simply would not do.

And it is no different for political rallies according to the team responsible for providing the soundtrack to the Mail’s recent question time with Ed Miliband.

Except that the Labour Party staffers literally sift their way through thousands of singles to make sure that just the right selection of tracks precedes their leader’s entrance.

Rejected are arrogant sounding efforts like Simply The Best and Things Can Only Get Better is now out in New Labour circles for its association with bad dancing by Prescott and co.

Also failing to make the list is anything a political sketch writer could compare Ed to, so out go Like A Virgin, Mad World or ‘Crazy’.

What we are left with this small selection of songs which no-one could object to, with Groove Armada’s Sand Dunes and Salty Air a current favourite. One of Ed’s team said: “We hear the same three or four tracks over and over. They’re almost drilled into our heads.”

These songs are bland, lyrically ambiguous and designed to not to cause offense to anyone – rather like our modern politicians.